From the Director of Seeds of Change, Andrew Walsh:
Let me tell you about an organization called “Seeds of Change” composed of students from multiple churches in the Denton area. We gather together in hopes of changing our local community through working with the poor. This can range from those who do not have a roof over there head to those who have too much. Our hope is to bring about a greater community bringing the rich and poor together to serve each other.
Around early September 2006, a small group of friends gathered together in attempt to reach out to others. They discovered a small shelter located off of the local town square called Sons of Thunder, snug between two large warehouse buildings. They discovered that the shelter began as a Christian biker ministry about six years ago. During the aftermath of Katrina, they saw a need to open up the building for use as a shelter for evacuees, and later extended it to all homeless individuals in the area. The group of friends decided to begin cooking dinner for those at the shelter once a week, and from it grew a vision to engage in fellowship and love to those who had become the untouchables of our society. Our vision is not only to feed those that are hungry, but also to love, encourage, and engage in new relationships with them. Those living in the shelter come from a multitude of backgrounds, and have aspirations to overcome drug addictions, restore their faith, and are trying to get back on their feet. We feel that as followers of Christ it is our job to love just as He loved, and give hope to those that need it the most.
After a few weeks, the small group saw a need for a GED preparation program, (the GED is a test taken in order to obtain a high school diploma) and began to tutor those that were interested. The group became an official student organization at the University of North Texas. What started as a simple dinner once a week soon grew into meeting twice a week for the GED program, with many new projects starting very soon. Christ has fully blessed our ministry, and has provided the means and the workers up until this point. I am coming to you to ask for your help in expanding our ministry. We are adding another dinner at Sons of Thunder immediately, starting to serve sack dinners out on the street, and looking at putting on events in our local community to raise awareness of the homeless population. All these new programs require money and volunteers which we do not have yet. I have listed out below a rough estimate of our immediate needs.
$160 weekly to serve 2 dinners at Sons of Thunder + $150 weekly to serve 100 sack lunches on the streets $310 weekly or approximately $1240 per month
This is not an attempt to ask solely for your money, but we would like for your hearts and prayers to be with us as well. We ask that people donate out of the generosity of their heart, and not only from conviction. We are looking for monthly contributors, as well as one time donations from local churches and businesses. We all need to come together and serve each other to cause a greater sense of community. This is where my heart is, and I’m asking that you examine your heart to see if this is a cause that you are willing to contribute to. “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11). This organization and all of the people involved are a big part of my joy, and I hope that you can share in this joy as well.
Sincerely, Andrew Walsh